


When The City Brings Them In

by MadHattie



Category: Matthew Swift Series - Kate Griffin
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 06:26:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6412621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadHattie/pseuds/MadHattie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's far to easy for sorcerers to lose themselves to the city</p>
            </blockquote>





	When The City Brings Them In

Penny was always much too stubbornly herself to lose her mind to the city. As solid in her will as iron and concrete, she lets the world wash around her but stands her ground. It's only in anger that she lets the city take over, screaming with the fury of car horns and sirens and calling up the things that people would rather forget. Long after the angels have returned to the wire she will still stand, as steadfast as a statue, and let her mind pour out into the bustling traffic; but in the end it will always return to her and she will walk away intact. There are some memories that cannot be carried away by the crowd, and they anchor her. Cannot forget the blood spilled, cannot forget the lives lost, cannot forget what it took to get her this far. She cannot forget and she will not forget for as long as she lives.

Bakker had control wound so tightly around his mind that at times he couldn't hear the city's voices at all. The angels wouldn't speak to him for fear of being tied down and placated. With each misstep he took one more step to solidify his boundaries until even the tides of rush hour could not move him. But his control wasn't part of him. It was built up around him, and when the foundations shook, the fear and malice that held them together grew its own legs and walked away to do what Bakker was too in control to do.

Dana dreamt of becoming part of the river where she was reborn, her mind washed clear of any human distractions until all that was left was the sound of rushing water. It fascinated her how the Thames kept moving despite everything that happened around it. The tide went in and the tide went out and no matter who died or disappeared that would never change. In her last hours she bought extra time from the tap, and when the water enveloped her it didn't matter that it smelt of copper pipes rather than silt and brine, it was her river all the same.

Without the angels Matthew may have ended up flying endlessly with the pigeons, scattered thoughts scraping skylines while his body slept below. As it is he walks a fine line between humanity and electric fire, and every time his words alternate between I and me he gives a little of himself to the city, and it gives a little back. One day his breath will smell of exhaust and his eyes will burn like neon and not even Kelly will be able to stop him from walking the streets with the rest of the world and letting the city overtake him for a bit. But the angels, though they love humans, were born of humans, see themselves as gods. They know that one day they will return to the wire, but until Matthew’s last breath dies upon his lips they will keep him with them in this world. There will be one day when he will be free with them once more, but for now he must be him.


End file.
